Okay, there are some things in the press that are really bugging me about this Apple announcement. The one that I hear over and over is:
"The most visible risk is that there could be some pushback in the developer community, as the move would require programmers to rewrite some applications," Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster wrote in a research note.
Most applications will simply have to be recompiled. There are a few mistakes a developer might make that would limit your CPU type, but programming practices to eliminate these problems have been standard for decades. Those most affected: programs that maintain binary file-formats. Once again, showing the evilness of these (oft undocumented) formats. Most applications will simply require a recompile, and at worst a few byte-order tweaks. The second:
The big risk for Apple is that customers will stop buying Macs until the first Intel-based systems arrive in the middle of next year. The upcoming holiday season could be particularly bleak.
Indeed, if you're considering the purchase of a Mac right now, you might want to wait a month or two. Apple could be forced to offer significant discounts to prevent sales from slumping.
Now, this might be true. But in reality, it shouldn't be any more true than normal computer buying. Waiting a few months will always get you a faster/better computer. If you want a computer right now, there's absolutely no reason you should wait. All future applications, compiled as a Universal binary will be fully compatible with PPC-based Macintoshes.
Since I am considering buying a Powerbook in the relatively near-future, I may personally wait to see if prices go down. That's not to say I'm going to delay my purchase, my time-frame is already flexible to begin with, and if Apple does start offering discounts, they may be too tempting to resist.
Updated: Yay, The Unofficial Apple Weblog agrees with me! This announcement does not obsolete Apples current product line anymore than Intel announcing a new chip for Wintel PCs.
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